Dizzy

This morning I woke up incredibly dizzy.  Usually I push myself up and grab my cell phone to see what time it is, but I was so overcome with dizziness, I had to lie back down.

I assumed I was dehydrated because the room was a bit warm, but this afternoon, after my workout, I was doing some yoga at home and had that same feeling of vertigo.  Not just a head rush, like I was about to fall over.

I stopped the yoga and stretched out to do some sit ups, and then the room was totally spinning.

I don’t feel sick – except nausea from the dizziness – and I’m definitely not pregnant so I didn’t know what was up.  The internet to the rescue!

At first I thought maybe I had an ear infection. I felt under the weather on Monday, but was better by the afternoon.  I chalked it up to allergies.  But with an ear infection, my ear would actually hurt, and I’ve had no pain.

MB thinks it’s iron deficiency anemia. A possibility since I just finished my period, but I have so few of the symptoms.  Dizziness, check.  Extreme fatigue – well, I’m always quite tired during my period, but I wouldn’t say I have extreme fatigue.  But that’s it.  I especially don’t have “[u]nusual cravings for non-nutritive substances, such as ice, dirt or pure starch” – weird!

I think it’s Benign Paroxysmal Positioning Vertigo, or BPPV. This happens basically when the crystals in your ears that are for balance go floating off where they’re not supposed to be.  It seems just tipping your head back can cause this, and this weekend I did a lot of sun saluting, which I haven’t done in a while (in my yoga class, we don’t tip our heads back too much).

Usually this only affects people 60 or over.  What the – ?  I’m not even 40 yet!

The Epely Maneuver is both a way for doctor to diagnose BPPV and to fix it.  I tried it on my own this afternoon, and my eyes did a crazy up and down thing when I turned to the right, which is what happens with BPPV.  And after I did the maneuver a few times, I felt somewhat better.

I guess I’ll try it again tomorrow if I still feel all veritgo-y.

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